Greensboro, NC - U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx today announced that the City of Charlotte has received $18 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to expand the LYNX Blue Line light rail. The grant, which was first announced in December 2011, will increase capacity on the southern corridor of the LYNX Blue Line to improveservice and better accommodate current and future ridership.

"Charlotte has been a leader in developing innovative transit options, and I'm pleased that this funding will allow the city to continue that leadership," Hagan said. "This funding will also create jobs and boost economic development in Charlotte. My number-one priority is putting North Carolinians back to work, and this key investment in infrastructure will help grow our economy and ensure Charlotte's economic competitiveness for years to come."

"Transit is about job creation, managing growth and, for Charlotte, building a 21st century city," Foxx said. "Expanding the capacity of our South Corridor line helps lay the foundation for the Blue Line Extension and for other parts of our transit system, including the Red Line and streetcar."

The funding will support the LYNX Blue Line Platform Retrofit project, which will lengthen some station platforms and add power substations for three-car trains in preparation for the future LYNX Blue Line Extension project.

Since opening in 2007, the LYNX Blue Line light rail system has resulted in more than $1.4 billion in new and planned economic development along Charlotte's South Corridor.

The grant is funded through the Transportation Department's TIGER III Surface Transportation Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, which funds innovative transportation projects in regions and metropolitan areas.